Reader Letters: Rev reverence and dodgy speed recognition systems

Your correspondence

Tony Inchley asks whether regular drivers need rev counters (“Out for the counter”, Letters, January 1). My children — now in their thirties — and I were taught by my husband to use the rev counter almost to the exclusion of the speedometer. If you know how your car works and want to treat it well while optimising whatever performance you are looking for, pay close attention to it.

Brenda Shanks, Forfar, Angus

Gauge reaction

I’ve always found rev counters useful for deciding whether I need to change down when going uphill or whether I’m revving too high when accelerating on a slip road. Am I a performance-car enthusiast? Well, yes, but my regular drive is a Skoda Roomster 1.2 and its counter is still useful.

Richard Adams, Beaumaris, Anglesey

Warning signs

I recently bought a Toyota RAV4 and am perfectly happy with the car. I am less enthralled by a camera system that reads speed limit signs and displays them on the instrument panel. Unfortunately it will sometimes pick out a number that is not a speed limit. I was bemused to see the limit on one stretch of road near me was 120mph. It turned out this was the distance in yards to a roundabout ahead. This really is an unnecessary, even dangerous, piece of kit.